Healio (10/12, Martin) reports, “The prevalence of neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases is significantly ‘higher and more wide-ranging’ than previously recognized, according to” findings published online in the journal Rheumatology. After analyzing data from the INSPIRE project, investigators concluded that “barriers to reporting neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases include limited knowledge and subjectivity.” What’s more, “most patients reported not being asked about their mental health by physicians.”

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— “Psychiatric symptom burden in SARDs higher, ‘more wide-ranging’ than previously recorded,”Erich Martin, Healio , October 12, 2023

The Washington Post (10/12, Johnson) reports researchers on Thursday released “the most detailed and complex portrait yet of the human brain in a dazzling catalog of more than 3,000 types of brain cells that collectively give rise to emotion, thought, memory and disease.” The findings, developed under the Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies initiative and published in 21 studies in Science and other journals, “are starting to open up the black box of the brain by providing an initial parts list for the most complex organ scientists have ever studied.”

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— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

MedPage Today (10/12, Bankhead) reports, “Adults with atopic dermatitis (AD) had a significantly higher prevalence of anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) across all severities of the skin disorder,” investigators concluded in findings from “a large retrospective analysis” published online in the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology. The study “identified 625,083 adults with AD, who were matched to 2,678,888 adults without AD.”

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Healio (10/12, Bascom) reports, “Alcohol and tobacco use were both notably associated with suicide attempts among adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to” findings presented at the Osteopathic Medical Education Conference. Data derived “from the CDC’s Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey showed that 37.1% of high school students had poor mental health and 9.3% attempted suicide during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

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— “Study findings ’emphasize the relationship’ between substance use and teen suicide,”Emma Bascom, Healio, October 12, 2023

Healio (10/12, Cooper) reports, “A study of more than 110,000 patients receiving psychotherapy found improved continuity of care and significantly fewer days between appointments after the switch to virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to findings published online Oct. 11 in the journal Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association. The study revealed that “improvements in patient engagement were observed across all demographic subgroups and major mental health conditions,” thereby supporting “further use of virtual psychotherapy.”

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— “Virtual psychotherapy improved patient engagement, cut time between visits during pandemic,”Justin Cooper, Healio, October 12, 2023